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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Michael Brito
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Article Title: Practical Tips For Converting Visitors Into
Customers
Author: Michael Brito
Word Count: 1067
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=80442&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Author's Email Address: michael.brito[at]comcast.net (replace
[at] with @)
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=80442
================== ARTICLE START ==================
Persuasive Online Copy Writing
Many websites today write their web site copy as if they are
trying to address a stadium full of customers. The problem with
this approach is that the message becomes diluted and confusing.
Instead, pick one customer, perhaps someone you know and write
the copy as if you are targeting just him or her. American
Novelist, John Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1962 states �your audience is one single reader;
and I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person
- a real person you know, or an imagined person - and write to
that one�. Literature is no different than writing website
copy. In fact, with practice, this becomes really easy to do.
Know Your Metrics
It is highly recommended that you set measurable benchmarks and
identify conversion goals based on current web site traffic. A
conversion can be a sale, or a form submission; basically,
whatever action you want the customer to take when they arrive
at your website. This can be easily done with web analytics
software (like Omniture, Website Story or Google Analytics)
with features that track the following:
1. User behavior - where visitors click, how long do they stay
on any given page etc.
2. What pages are customers abandoning the site
3. ROI/ROAS
4. Revenue tracking per conversion for all our campaigns
5. Real time reporting.
Improve Your Navigation
There is nothing that irritates me more than not being able to
find the navigation when I get to a web page. Ease of
navigation on a website is a very important part of converting
visitors into customers. If visitors to your site don't know
where to click to find what they are looking for, they will
abandon your site in the blink of an eye. I do it all the time.
The most common place for your navigation is on the left side
and/or the top of the page. There have been several studies
that show an increase in conversions when the navigation is one
of these two places. Take a moment to look at online retailers
like eBay, Dell, QVC, HP and Amazon and see if you can find any
similarities.
In addition, navigation should be consistent on each page. Most
retailers are already facing huge abandon rates and inconsistent
navigation will increase the chances of visitors dropping off.
Studying drop-off data indicates that would be customers
visiting your site lose the relevant message of what put them
there in the first place.
Further evidence was provided on March 8, 2004 - Onestat.com
reported that 9.52% of visitors abandon a website after viewing
one page; 54.60% of visitors abandon a website after viewing two
pages and 15.56% of visitors abandon after viewing three pages
or more (based on a sample size of 2 million visitors). This
data illustrates the importance of having consistent navigation
on every page of your website.
Call to Action
The idea here is to reinforce (or validate) the purchase
decision while the visitor is going through the check-out
process. You can communicate anything that is unique about your
product or service, whether it is a customer testimonial, a new
promotional offer; or perhaps the services that you offer that
differentiate you from your competitors like 24/7 customer
service, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, etc. This helps build
credibility, reassures customers that they are making the right
decision; and most importantly, decreases shopping cart
abandonment and buyers remorse.
It�s also good practice to strategically place your phone
number on every page. Believe it or not, there are still
millions of people out there that are not comfortable with
submitting their credit card over the phone. Additionally, some
people also prefer to talk to a live sales person.
Reduce Download Speed
Lose the flash. Not everyone has a fast Internet connection.
There is data our there that shows that the majority of
visitors will only wait 3 - 5 seconds for a home page to load
up before clicking elsewhere. Again, take a look at the top
online retailers and you will notice that they don�t have flash
at all. E-marketer.com reported that 84% of website visitors
abandon a site if the page load time reaches 10 seconds. I,
personally won�t wait longer than 1 or 2 seconds, but that�s
just me.
Substance over Style
Although a nice web site design is attractive to look at, it�s
not what drives sales. Take a look 1800 Flowers, Dell, QVC, HP
and Amazon and you will notice that their sites aren�t the most
attractive, yet they are the online retail leaders. What makes
these sites unique is they provide tons of relevant content,
easy navigation, and a quick/easy check out process.
Recapture Lost Sales
If possible, track users who abandon the check out process, and
target them with a different offer, or at least get their
feedback as to why they abandoned the site. You will never know
unless you ask.
Content
Content is king; we�ve all heard that before, right?. A web
page can do only one of two things: either it contains the
content the visitors want or it contains the links to get them
to where they want to go. If a page doesn't follow this basic
rule, the visitors stop clicking. And that�s not a good thing.
Perhaps it takes visitors two or three pages before they figure
out that they are in the wrong place... but I doubt it. Over
half of visitors are interested enough to click one or two
steps deeper before bailing. That's a pretty clear indication
sites fail to provide enough content to the majority of their
visitors. According to Jakob Nielsen, users look straight at
the content and ignore the navigation areas when they scan a
new page. They are extremely goal-driven and look only for the
one thing they have in mind and if a page does not appear
relevant to the user's current goals, then the user will
ruthlessly click the Back button.
Following these basic steps outlined in this article will
surely help your online conversion rates. Please drop me a note
if you have had any progress or not.
About The Author: Michael Brito is an online marketing
consultant � http://www.britopian.com � and specializes in web
strategy, seo, blog marketing and article syndication. To read
more marketing news, please visit:
http://www.britopian.com/blog
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